Archive for month: March, 2016

Students in grades 6 through 12 from Lincoln Middle High School enjoyed spending time Tuesday, March 22 with local business professionals from a wide range of career pathways at the school’s annual Career Fair.

Thanks to everyone that made this terrific event possible for Lincoln Middle High School students!

INDIANAPOLIS (March 21, 2016) – St. John’s High School Darwin Shorters received the highest honor given to PLTW Computer Science teachers – PLTW Computer Science Teacher of the Year – Sunday night at Project Lead The Way’s (PLTW) PLTW Summit 2016.

Shorters was recognized in front of more than 1,800 attendees, including his fellow teachers from across the United States. PLTW President and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Vince Bertram and Senior Vice President and Chief Programs Officer Dr. Anne Jones presented the award.

“We are grateful to our teachers for their commitment to inspiring students,” said Anne Jones, Chief Program Officer and Senior Vice President for Programs for PLTW. “The PLTW Teachers of the Year are leaders in their classrooms and are inspiring the next generation of innovators.”

Shorters is a PLTW Computer Science Master Teacher and is described as a champion of PLTW who has put his school’s program on the map. He is known for his commitment to his students, his devotion to teaching, and his far-reaching leadership. His passion for and knowledge of computer science has had a sprawling impact – from engaging each student in his PLTW classroom, to empowering fellow teachers across his state through his role as a Master Teacher.

“He never uses the phrase, “I can’t,” and instead embraces challenges and goes above and beyond for his students – making the impossible, possible, and he “curates energy for PLTW that is unparalleled,” said St. John’s High School Principal Andre Dukes.

PLTW recognized four other instructors as PLTW program teachers of the year for their outstanding commitment to empowering students to thrive in our evolving world. PLTW Computer Science engages students in real-life activities like creating an online art portal or using automation to process and analyze DNA-sequence data. These projects challenge students to think big and illustrate how intricately computer science is woven into our society. As students work together to brainstorm solutions, they test their limits, question what’s possible, and transform into builders of tech, rather than bystanders.

PLTW Summit 2016, held March 20-23 in Indianapolis, is the premier gathering of passionate and committed individuals who work together every day to empower students to develop the knowledge and skills they need to thrive in an evolving world. More than 1,800 attendees — from students to those in the education, government and business sectors — are convening to share strategies for making classroom learning relevant, engaging and hands-on.

About PLTW

Project Lead The Way (PLTW) is a nonprofit organization that provides a transformative learning experience for K-12 students and teachers across the U.S. Through pathways in computer science, engineering, and biomedical science, K-12 students learn problem-solving strategies, critical and creative thinking, and how to communicate and collaborate. PLTW empowers students to develop in-demand knowledge and skills necessary to thrive in an evolving world. More than 8,000 elementary, middle, and high schools in all 50 states and the District of Columbia offer PLTW programs. For more information on Project Lead The Way, visit pltw.org.

The West Ashley High School DECA Club competed at the DECA State Career Conference at the North Charleston Coliseum February 26th. Twelve members placed in the top ten and three members placed in the top three.

The West Ashley High School DECA Club is advised by Marketing teacher, Terry Stutts, and is run by a team of five student members. DECA is designed to prepare emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management.

High school DECA members from all over South Carolina were invited to compete in the DECA State Career Conference with members from each team competing in various categories. DECA’s evaluation process involves students in both a written component such as an exam or report and an interactive component where an industry professional serves as a judge.During the interactive component, members are presented with a real-world problem and given 10 minutes to come up with a solution which they in turn present to the judge. The objective is to be one of the top three finishers in order to qualify for the next level of competition.

Senior Ashante Edwards placed first in the Apparel and Accessories Marketing category.

Senior Ashante Edwards placed first in the category Apparel and AccessoriesMarketing and will advance to compete at the International Career DevelopmentConference (ICDC) in April.

The following WAHS students were placed in the top 3 in their respective categories, earning a trip to nationals also:

WAHS Senior Liam Wheless, Retail Merchandising

WAHS Freshman Lupe Chaves, Principles of Hospitality and Tourism

WAHS Sophomore Rodney Graham, Principles of Business Management and Administration

Liam Wheless placed third in the category Retail Merchandising. This is Wheless’ fourth year as a part of DECA and his first year serving as club president.

Freshman Lupe Chaves placed third in the category Principles of Hospitality andTourism.

Rodney Graham placed third in the category Principles of Business Management and Administration, which will allow him the opportunity to advance to compete at ICDC in April.

These members qualified to compete in the International Career Development Conference (ICDC) in Nashville, Tennessee April 23rd. The categories will be the same, but instead of just competing against other high schools in South Carolina, West Ashley High DECA members will compete against DECA members from across the nation.

DECA members Alexis Holmes, Amanda Bennett, Victoria Singleton, and DaMya Brown dressed in their professional best and were ready to face the competition!

Amanda Bennett, Kelly Cochran, and Haley Bauer competed in the DECA State Career Conference February 26th -28th at the North Charleston Coliseum.

Brain Hawkins and Katlyn Clark placed in the Top 10 in their categories.

Project Lead the Way (PLTW) students from 4 CCSD high schools attended a statewide PLTW Engineering Competition held March 7 at University of South Carolina’s College of Engineering & Computing in Columbia.

CCSD Schools participating included:

Wando High School

West Ashley High School

Garrett Academy of Technology

Academic Magnet High School

Students from Academic Magnet HS won 1st place for Digital Electronics and students from Wando HS took 1st place in Intro to Engineering Design!

Over 130 students from throughout Charleston competed in the 2016 SeaPerch Charleston Challenge.

Teams from local high and middle schools designed underwater robots and competed with them in various challenges. Students were also judged on their poster and presentation skills, and an overall composite score determined the winner of the event.

Charleston, SC – March 4, 2016 – Hundreds of students from throughout the Charleston region were invited to visit the Medical University of South Carolina for an event called “Discover MUSC – from Classroom to Career”.

The students were treated to an opening informational session, a large career fair with interactive exhibits and professionals from well known and lesser known components of MUSC’s “city within a city.”

“My students loved the hands-on opportunities to see things like a real human brain and spinal cord, and my students also enjoyed learning about the diverse range of non-medical professions MUSC needs to serve our community,” said Lucia Watson, Health Science Instructor a Garrett Academy of Technology.

To conclude the terrific day of experiential learning, students participated in a wrap-up session and had the chance to win prize packages full of MUSC swag.

The day was truly an ideal experience for students considering a profession in health care and the many other supporting career pathways at MUSC.

Thanks to the many generous professionals at MUSC for investing their time in local students, and thanks to the Metro Chamber of Commerce Regional Health Advisory Board for Career Academies for their important role in facilitating the event.

10 students from Baptist Hill MHS in Hollywood and 10 students from Burke HS in downtown Charleston were invited to shadow professionals from various departments of the City of Charleston on Feb 29th.

The day began with a tour of Charleston’s historic city hall, including city council chamber and it’s priceless collection of art. Ms. Lindsey, the docent for the chamber, provided an interesting story for each of the portraits hanging in the room. She also highlighted the one original Edison Bulb still operational in the chamber and the desks that date back to the 1800’s.

Then, each student was connected with their host for the morning – participating city departments included:

Housing Dept.

Mayor’s Office of Children, Youth and Families

Recreation Dept.

Mayor’s Office

Office of Tourism & Livability

Charleston Fire Dept.

Clerk of Council

Cultural Affairs Office

Charleston Police Dept.

After the job shadowing time was complete, everyone met back at the maritime center for lunch and round-table discussions on the day.

The day was terrific, including ideal weather, and the beautiful location – but most of all, it was the experience and relationships the students left with that will shape their future, and the future of our community.

Thanks to all that made this amazing job shadowing day possible, especially Mindy Sturm with the Mayor’s office for Children, Youth & Families and Bernard Scott and Michele Garris, guidance directors at Baptist Hill and Burke.

Recently, students in the Nail Technology program at West Ashley High School hosted students from Baptist Hill MHS for a “salon day”.
All the visiting students enjoyed the salon and then got to tour other additional WAHS Career and Technology programs. They drove robots, looked at airplanes, and snacked with Culinary students!

Local professionals from several engineering firms, all members of the West Ashley High School STEM Advisory Board, recently led Dr. Barbara Leonard’s students on a special tour of the Ravenel Bridge of the Cooper River.

“The Ravenel Bridge Walk, led by engineers who specialize in building and inspecting the bridge, was the highlight of Engineers Week,” said Dr. Leonard.

“Seeing the bridge through the eyes of these knowledgeable engineers was an opportunity for the PLTW Civil Engineering and Architecture students to experience firsthand the connection of their lessons at school to a world-class project of incredible magnitude,” Dr. Leonard added.

Special thanks for these excellent pictures to Donnie Newton, West Ashley HS